[log] as god as my witness, the infidels are gonna pay [week 15, day1]

[dramatic_cape]

Who: Lelouch and Allen
Status: Closed
Style: Third person, present tense
Where: Somewhere in Raisato
When: Week 15, Day 1 [backdated]
Rating: PG? They're just having a civil conversation, I guess.
Summary: Dramatic plotting and intrigue and things. Standard hazards of knowing Lelouch.

Comments

[whitenighting]

After his morning? Allen's been staying anywhere but the old place in Raisato he and the others had slammed into. Briefly chatting with Link in the morning, sure, but he'd beat a hasty retreat and gone to mingle with the refugees and do what he could after that.

And you know what? Even with all his randomly collected skills and handiwork, he felt a little useless. And it wasn't just because he didn't know the delicate ins and outs of first aid. It was the shunned looks he got and angry shooing gestures he got; tainted, outsider, didn't understand.

Someone said "unclean hands" and that'd struck a little hard and he'd smiled, bowed out, and left them alone in a hurry.

The thing showing up on his Hitomi... The "Chronicle". Kakashi, he'd commented on it. Break, too.

It's not the sort of thing Allen dwells on. He can't dwell on it for so many personal reasons. But he does find himself shunted out of things this day when he'd rather keep his hands busy.

He needs to keep his hands busy

[dramatic_cape]

Lelouch barely hears Allen at first, so engrossed in the newspaper (that's the only thing that describes this) as he is. It's like déjà vu, this feeling - he almost has to read every sentence multiple times for the meaning to sink in.

"...we must cast these unholy beings out..." Lelouch reads aloud in a murmur. He's not even shocked. A bit surprised, yes. Chagrined, yes. But is this a great shock? No. He's lived this already, seen both sides. He's been set upon by at the age of ten, children his own age kicking him in the ribs and spitting invectives so bad that Suzaku had gasped when Lelouch asked him what they meant. He's watched from Rivalz' sidecar in traffic while Governor Calaris had spoken of "making an example to these monkeys," and burned with a fury he couldn't explain at the time. That had been the one nice thing about Kannagara - with so many from so many worlds, it was refreshing not to see the old prejudices and hate rise up here.

So much for that.

Lelouch crumples the Chronicle in his hands, clenching his

[whitenighting]

He hangs back for a moment, hesitating at the sheer repressed emotion from the other in how they grip the paper. Ah... bad timing?

But Lelouch tosses it aside (crumpled it up? Allen grins a little nervously)  and addresses him pleasantly enough, so he raises a hand slightly in acknowledgement; smiles back a little tiredly but still with an effort. "Ah, that..."

A glance is spared towards the crumpled remains of the paper.

"Truthfully," he begins, smiling a little apologetically, "I'm trying not to dwell on that too much."

It kind of hits home a little too closely for him, after all.

Besides, what more could one do than just keep going on as themselves and show that the fears are misplaced?

[dramatic_cape]

"I wonder if they ever thought to ask the gods they worship why they brought us here at all," Lelouch says, glancing at a man crossing the street as he approached the two of them. "It isn't as if we had much of a choice in the matter ourselves."

Allen looks tired. Worn. Not that Lelouch can blame him. The young man's been herding refugees and fighting monsters all week (or at least, as far as Lelouch can remember). "I don't remember much of the last week, I'm afraid," Lelouch says. "I saw your efforts on the Hitomi. You helped a lot of people, Allen."

[whitenighting]

He... what?

Allen jerks slightly in surprise, looking back to Lelouch after having chanced a glance at the man he was looking at.

(Surely they were above looking suspiciously at others?)

"I-"

A blink, then a quick, slightly nervous grin. "It wasn't... there wasn't that much we were able to do, but-"

He glances aside, more subdued. "I'm glad if we were able to help some people however we could. It was a lot like what we do back in my world."

It's kind of nice to hear that... maybe it made a bit of a difference, though. Especially with the skeptical, all-too-familiar looks of distrust he's been getting this day. But he looks back to Lelouch with a fresher, clear-eyed expression. "---It's not that big of a deal though. Everyone really pulled together in this, didn't they? At least..."

Well.

Quiet smile, shrug. "There were a lot of people that helped out."

Even if they were given scowls and skeptical looks, but... that was still alright.

It didn't diminish what they'd done.